Half Seat Lateral Wedge for Lateral Pelvic Tilt Sitting

Shoe lifts or lifts in the shoe are a common treatment for leg length discrepancy.

Why are lifts not used for lateral pelvic tilt when sitting?

In a previous blog article, I described lateral pelvic tilt and anatomical versus functional lateral pelvic tilt. Lateral pelvic tilt can result from individual structural variation, and defective chair or car seat.

This blog article Hamstring, Buttock, Back, Neck Pain and the Car Seat describes how to intervene with half seat lateral wedge cushion to alleviate neck, back, buttock, and hamstring pain from lateral pelvic tilt during prolonged sitting.

For quite some time my dream was to invent a half-seat lateral wedge to sell and make enough money to buy a vacation home south of the equator. Obviously, this dream has not come to fruition.

What has happened is I have recently discovered a readily available inexpensive wedge cushion that addresses the problem of lateral pelvic tilt when sitting. We can use an airbag wedge, air jack wedge, and/or air shin for an “off-label” function to level a lateral pelvic tilt when sitting. Off-label use is medicine, or a product being used in a way, not in the original design or purpose. An air jack wedge is sold to pry open car doors, or to lift heavy objects like heavy doors to repair and align door hinges.

This is what an airbag wedge looks like.

Below is an example of an old worn-out car seat cushion, notice wrinkles in the cushion inferring the relative collapse of the cushion on the edge.

The automobile driver’s side seat pan cushion becomes compressed on one side. The left side of the driver’s side seat pan cushion (the side nearest the door) becomes compressed to a greater degree than the seat pan cushion nearest the middle console (under the right buttock). The effect is the seat pan is not level. Depending on how the individual compensates for the unlevel seat pan, this can contribute to a variety of musculoskeletal pain syndromes including hamstring pain, buttock pain, back pain, and neck pain. The pain can develop on the low side or the high side.

The magnitude of the asymmetrical compression of the seat cushion is greater in older cars/trucks, cars/trucks which are higher off the ground, previously owned vehicles, and owned by large heavy drivers.

Placing half seat lateral wedge cushion under the left buttock can level the car seat preventing or alleviating musculoskeletal pain.

An adhesive Velcro button or tape can hold the lateral cushion in place.

The information on this website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You are encouraged to perform additional research regarding any information contained available through this website with other sources and consult with your physician.